“Today, the CFPB is spending $145 million to renovate a $150 million headquarter building they don’t even own. And the renovation rate is three times the average Washington, D.C. luxury, class-A renovation rate.”

“Well, what does $145 million buy? Well, it’s $461 dollars per square foot in office renovations. Mr. Chairman, that is more per square foot than was spent to build the Trump World Tower. And at $461 per square foot, that was more money than it cost to spend to build the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas – which at the time, I’m told, was the most expensive hotel ever built. And Mr. Chairman, this is more money to renovate a building they don’t own than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the single-tallest skyscraper in the world. Now ironically enough, the architectural firm which designed the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the same world-renowned architectural firm that the CFPB paid over $7 million to design their headquarter renovations.”

“This is a bill about accountability and transparency," said Rep. Duffy. CFPB Director Richard Cordray claims that in order for the agency to do their job, they must monitor 80% of all credit cards in circulation, or nearly one billion credit cards. One provision in this bill would require the CFPB to first ask the American people's permission before accessing their personal information. Rep. Duffy argued, "If you are here to protect the consumer, why don't you ask the consumer for permission and consent to take their information?

"This is the right thing to do. Let's empower Congress and the American people. Let's reform the CFPB and actually make it work."

“The CFPB is perhaps the single most powerful and least accountable federal agency in all of Washington,” said Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. “Consumers don’t just need to be protected from Wall Street. They need to be protected from Washington as well.”

U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, authored parts of the measure that would subject CFPB to the normal appropriations process like other regulators.
“Right now, CFPB can simply draw money from the Fed whenever it needs,” Neugebauer explained. “This bill is important not only because it makes the budget accountable to taxpayers, but also because it allows Congress to regularly evaluate CFPB’s performance and detect waste, fraud, and abuse.”

"We've seen what happens when bureaucrats so powerful are left so unaccountable," said Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.). "In its three short years, the CFPB has burned through its budgets and rifled through the private financial data of millions of Americans."